
H-ZO\ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 






INITFI) STATES OF AMERK'A. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/trueromanceofreb01hald 



TRUE ROMANCE 



REBELLION 



BY 

CYRUS S. IIALDEMAN 




BOSTON, MASS. 

COMBINATION PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1886 






i 



^ 



CONTENTS 



I. The Mysterious Bark . 

II. The Lesson of Experience 

III. In Court 

IV. Application of the Lesson 
V. For Twenty Years 



5 
9 

19 
20 



A TRUE ROMANCE OF THE 
REBELLION. 



THE MVSTEIllOl'S RARK. 




\T T^ ^^'^^' ^'^ ^^'^^ montli of DcccnibcM-. 
\ I ^^63, when I was the Assistant 

J- \ L/ Adjntant-General of the Military 
District of Philadelphia, a gentle- 
man called at head-quarters to 
relate his experience of tiie dav 
before. On the train from New 
York he sat beside an unkempt, 
loquacious woman, who seemed 
to be under the influence of 
liquor or some hallucination. 
In a rambling sort 'of way she 
spoke of the capture of the 
steamer Chesapeake between New York and Portland bv rebel 
emissaries a few days before, and after a time confidently informed 
her restive and unwilling listener, in an undertone, that something 
of a similar character was about to be consunmiated which would 
be of much greater Importance, and would give the militarv 
authorities a big scare ; she knew all about it ; would have a hand 
in it herself, and much more exaggerated gossip, all tending, 
however, to indicate that a vessel was being prepared in our city 
for acquiescent abduction, and that she was in the secret. The 
only thing mentioned of a tangible nature was her final reminder 
to my informant to keep his eyes and ears open until he heard of 
the bark yli, and then to recollect what she had told him. 



A True Romance of the Rebellion. 



I attached very little importance to the subject at the time, on 
account of the frequency of notifications, reports, and foolish 
rumors of various kinds then so prevalent ; but as a matter of 
routine, precaution, and vigilance, I made a memorandum and 
sent it to Benjamin Franklin, chief of detective police, w^ho 
generally attended to matters of that kind for the Government. 
The same day he reported that one of his men had found a hand- 
some, finely-equipped bark, named ^i, at a v^harf on the Dela- 
ware river, and that a v^oman corresponding to the description 
was aboard of her. Immediate investigation elicited an astound- 
ing state of affairs. It was discovered that the vessel had been to 
the navy-yard and ten ii-inch guns, with 2,500 shells, were 
placed in the bottom ; then she was towed up the river to the 
great chutes, and the entire hold filled with steamer-coal. From 
here she was returned to her original berth, and a large number 
of carboys of acid and packages of medical supplies taken aboard. 
There were good reasons for believing that a quantity of small- 
arms were also between decks, belonging to a Dr. Seegur, who 
claimed to represent the government of San Salvador. 

After these various shipments in Philadelphia the vessel was 
taken to the vicinity of Wilmington, Del., and 3,000 kegs of large- 
grained powder, suitable for artillery use, were received from the 
Dupont mills. 

The case, as it then appeared to those In authority, was this : 
the woman, who proved to be the stewardess, had a few days 
before, in a spirit of unaccountable braggadocio, broadly inti- 
mated to an entire stranger, on a public thoroughfare, that a ves- 
sel with a very peculiar nam.e was to be provided with munitions, 
of war in a Northern port, and the same carried over to the 
enemy. To confirm her maudlin allegations and predictions the 
bark, with the unusual name of ^i, was discovered to be a 
reality, and her cargo was composed entirely of such supplies as 
would be most acceptable to the Confederacy ; in fact, everything 
on board, including the ship's stores, was contraband of war. 
What may have been deemed, thus far, to be probable or suspi- 
cious circumstances indicating some overt act, became positive or 
cumulative evidence, when it was learned at the custom-house 



The Mysteriotis Bark. 



that her manifest described the munitions of war as castings, 
hollow-ware, and blasting-powder. 

As fast as developments warranted, Major-General Cadwalader, 
then in command of the district, reported the facts to the Secre- 
tary of War, Mr. Franklin was reporting to the Secretary of State, 
and Mr. William B. Thomas, collector of the port, was corre- 
sponding with the Secretary of the Treasury as to the expediency 
of clearing the vessel. The result was, that, in obedience to 
instructions from the War Department, the following order was 
issued : — 

Head-quarters, Military Commander, 
Philadelphia, Dec. 15, 1863, 

8 o'clock P.M. 
LlEUT.-CoL. H. A. Frink, Provost-Marshal : — 

Sir, — You will proceed with a detachment of twenty men on board of tug- 
boat Brezverton, which will be provided by Captain A. Boyd, Assistant Quarter- 
master, to-morrow morning, to start from Market-st. wharf at seven o'clock, pro- 
vided with two days' rations, at least, and three if practicable, to seize and bring 
back the bark ^i, which cleared and left here to-day; her supposed destination 
being to take in powder at Dupont's wharf, north of the Wilmington light-house, 
on the Delaware river. You will arrest and search every person found on board 
for papers and letters immediately on your arrival. This vessel has a large quan- 
tity of powder, arms, and other things contraband of war. Mr. Benjamin 
Franklin, chief detective, with a few of his men, will accompany you, and you 
will consult with him in relation to your mode of procedure. Captain Eaton has 
been directed to send a six-pounder gun, with a detachment to serve it. The non- 
commissioned officer will report to you. 

By command of Major-Gen. Cadwalader, 

CYRUS S. HALDEMAN, 

Captain and Asst. Adj. -Gen. 

About the same time orders from the Treasury Department 
directed the detention of the bark, so that on the i8th she was 
taken possession of by the provost-marshal* assisted by Captain 
Gambrill, of the revenue cutter Varina^ and brought back to 
Fort Mifflin, near Philadelphia, and all on board of her confined 
in the bomb-proof. She laid here for several days, when it became 



A True Romance of the Rebellion. 



suddenly cold, and running ice formed so rapidly that she was 
♦dropped down the river to Chester for better protection from 
injury. 

The seizure of a contraband vessel in a loyal port, and the im- 
prisonment of the officers and crew in a United States fort, 
naturally caused considerable excitement, in those sensitive times, 
to the public generally, and a panic to the owners of the bark 
and her cargo, who appeared forthwith. The owners of the 
vessel were represented by George H. Hall and John E. Chase, 
who stated that she had been built recently at Warren, R.I., was 
owned in Providence, and had made one voyage to New Orleans, 
freighted by the Government, and, on her return, had gone to 
Philadelphia, where she was taken up by a local broker. Ex- 
planations were hastily tendered, and everything possible done to 
show that the charter was legitimate, and that all concerned were 
innocent of disloyal or illegal intentions. It was shown at once 
that the cannon, shells, and coal belonged to the navy, and were 
being transferred to the Mare Island yard. The use of the terms 
" castings" and " hollow-ware " was a bit of blundering stupid- 
ity on the part of the naval authorities, who wanted to be clever 
enough to "fool the Rebs " in case the ship's papers should be 
overhauled by a cruiser. 

. After considerable tribulation and expense those in interest 
satisfied General Cadwalader of their innocence of intentional 
wrong, and, on the night of the 28th, he sent a special messenger 
to the Secretaiy of War with all the papers in the case and his 
recommendation that the vessel be suffered to depart. In conse- 
quence of this action, on the 2d day of January, 1864, the officers 
and crew were released from confinement, the military guard 
withdrawn, and the General's official connection with the affair 
ceased. 

Subsequently, the vessel was libelled by the civil authorities, 
and seized by William Milward, U.S. Marshal, and held until 
February 3d, when slie was finally released, and soon after sailed 
from Chester for San Francisco, with a new complement of "men, 
under convoy of a gun-boat until beyond dangerous waters. 
This was the last ever seen or heard of the mysterious and 



The Lesso7t of Experience. 



somewhat notorious bark ^i or her cargo. It is supposed that 
she foundered with all on board, or that she finally fell into the 
hands of the enemy. 

II. THE LESSON OF EXPERIENCE. 

Some five years later I received a note from General Cad- 
walader requesting an interview at an early date, at which he 
informed me that the captain of the bark A\ had been to Wash- 
ington with a claim against the United States for alleged damages 
to his person and property in consequence of an illegal and 
unnecessary outrage by the military authorities, and that he was 
there told, that he had no shadow of a claim against the Govern- 
ment, but that he had a good case against the commanding officer 
who had made the seizure and arrest without competent authority, 
and who should be held personally liable for his unwarranted acts. 
In accordance with this mischievous advice he had entered 
proceedings to recover $100,000 damages for his arrest and im- 
prisonment, and the General was preparing a statement of the 
unfortunate affair, as best he could, for the information of his 
counsel. He required my assistance and technical experience, as 
well as the benefit of my memory in locating and crystallizing the 
official correspondence wdiich had passed between our head- 
quarters and the War Department, covering the instructions and 
authority for the seizure of the vessel, and the incarceration of 
her people. We were very seriously impressed with the awkward 
position in which a commanding officer was liable to be placed in 
civil life, without having in his possession anv official orders to 
produce for his defence in a suit at law, which might at any time 
arise, for his official acts during the war, in case he did not have 
the hearty cooperation and support of the Government. 

General Cadwalader resigned his commission immediately after 
actual hostilities ceased, and soon after the volunteer army was 
gradually mustered out under provisions of General Order 
No. 79, of May I, 1865. About. this time I was directed to 
have the books closed, the voluminous records of our head- 
quarters properly classified and indexed, carefully boxed, and 
forwarded to Washington, after which I was relieved from further 



10 A True Romance of the Rebellion. 

duty as an Assistant Adjutant-General, and detailed as Judge 
Advocate of a general Court-Martial convened by Major- General 
Hancock, then commanding the Middle Department, so that I 
remained in the military service until the spring of 1866, when I 
also resigned, and located in Boston. 

As all the official correspondence and records belonging to our 
district w^ere at Washington, we prepared as complete a list of 
letters, telegrams, and orders as our united memories could re- 
call, and forwarded it to the Adjutant-General, with a request to 
furnish certified copies to be used in court. I saw the Gen- 
eral a couple of months later, when he expressed a good deal 
of solicitude, because he had failed to get any papers of value 
from the War Department. Unsuccessful with the recognized 
bureau officer, he resorted to a personal appeal to the Secretary, 
with whom he had been on friendly terms, only to receive polite 
notification that there was nothing on file in his office relating to 
the bark ^i, nor any evidence that her detention had ever been 
authorized by the Government. He was now confronted with 
the first of a series of lawsuits for the forcible seizure of a valu- 
able vessel and cargo, the loss of which was charged to her undue 
detention, and the imprisonment of a number of men, each of 
whom had a good claim for damages, and the documentary evi- 
dences of competent authority for his official acts, denied to him 
by those in charge of the War Department. 

After exhausting our patience in correspondence and sugges- 
tions, and finally realizing that further effort in that direction was 
worse than useless, I packed my bag and started forthwith to 
Washington, bearing letters of introduction from the General to 
some of his influential friends. I was courteously received by 
Secretary Belknap and politely assured of his friendly considera- 
tion and his disposition to serve us. The chief clerk v^as called 
to explain that he had already made a careful examination of the 
records, but failed to find copies of the letters, telegrams, and 
special instructions referred to. I was subsequently somewhat 
curtly given to understand that I was entirely mistaken, that the 
papers did not exist, that no such authority had been given ; and 
that that was the end of it. 



The Lesson of Expei-ie^ice. \\ 



Disgusted with the incompetence and snobbishness of subor- 
dinates and the superciliousness of theij- superiors, and realizing the 
gravity of the situation, I brooded for an hour or two in an unen- 
viable state of mind. I was m doubt whether I had failed in my 
mission through a want of tact or neglect on my own part, or 
from the unaccountable indifference and ignorance of those in 
authority. I was not satisfied that there was a sincere inclination 
on the part of the Secretary to protect a friend or to do his 
bounden duty as a high official. I left his office as an unfruitful 
field for further cultivation, and determined upon a foraging 
expedition of my own. I knew, absolutely, that the papers 
required w^ere in Washington, and in the next place I did not 
purpose to leave the city until I found them. 

Having served in the War Department from September, 1861, 
to May, 1863, I was quite familiar with all the methods and 
details of current business, and had more or less personal ac- 
quaintance with employes in the various divisions. I therefore 
went quietly and patiently from one to another with my friend- 
ship and my inquiries until I located the records of our Philadel- 
phia head-quarters in a large warehouse, erected for the purpose 
of storing such property for safe-keeping. Here were most of 
die original cases just as they had been received from the field 
and the various district head-quarters at the close of the war. 
Tons upon tons of them were piled upon each other in long 
rows, with suitable passage-ways between them, and all well 
covered with dust. With much more wisdom than was dis- 
pla3^ed in some other directions the boxes were fairly well 
marked upon their faces, so that identification required only 
time, patience, and faithful work. Armed with an official permit, 
which I knew how to procure, I was soon on good terms with an 
accommodating and intelligent ordnance-sergeant, who w^as in 
charge of the archives. It was a physical impossibility to un- 
cover our boxes after they were located, without a large force 
of men and considerable time, so the most practicable thing to 
do was to break into them by tearing out their sides and overhaul 
the contents by the light of a couple of candles. Having person- 
ally superintended the preparation and packing of our books and 



12 A True Romance of the Rebellion. 



papers, I knew just where and how to find what we were obliged 
to have. ^ 

I was lucky enough to get hold of the letter-books and the 
indexed summary of letters received, covering the period of time, 
and from my list of approximated dates and subjects I was 
enabled, by following the thread from page to page, to fix the 
alphabetical titles and file numbers of the papers we wanted. 
I soon found all the letters received of 1864, and selected such of 
them as identified the Government with the bark Ai. Two pack- 
ages only were missing from the file, but from the data obtained 
from our books I was able to procure copies of them at the War 
Department. 

It seemed that we were pursued by some fatality in this 
wretched affair, for none of those for 1863 could be found. I 
spent two days in the examination of between fifteen and twenty 
boxes to discover a package marked " B-i 00-1863," which 
covered nearly all the original telegrams, letters, and orders 
from Washington, during the month of December, relating to 
the case in question, and which, at the time, I considered vital 
to our defence, as the recent death of Mr. Stanton had removed 
our most important witness. Under these circumstances I was 
doubly careful to select everything that would possibly connect 
either branch of the Administration with the transaction, directly 
or indirectly, and had them copied, verified, and officially authen- 
ticated. 

I next went to the Treasury Department for copies of corre- 
spondence with the collector of the port of Philadelphia, cover- 
ing the same subject from a different stand-point, particularly a 
letter from Collector Thomas, dated Dec. 15, reporting the 
suspicious charactei of the bark ; but it could be neither traced 
nor found, nor could a copy of it be obtained at the custom- 
house, on account of an inexcusable gap in the letter-book from 
Dec. 3 to t6. 

Before I left Washington I became imbued with a belief, which 
was partially confirmed, that the records in the office of the 
Secretary of War, were, at that time, absolutely worthless, so 
far as they were sufficient to discover any particular paper then 



In Court, 13 



on file. Letters written by order of the Secretary had not been 
thoroughly indexed, so that copies could be referred to ; and 
communications which had been received at the office were 
not folded, briefed, lettered, numbered, and indexed, as pre- 
scribed by the well-established rules and customs of the depart- 
ment, before being stuffed into pigeon-holes, as so much rubbish, 
to be forgotten. 

III. IN COURT. 

On the morning of the 7th day of June, 1S70, a dense crowd 
of curious and interested persons assembled in the United States 
Circuit Court at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets, Phila- 
delphia, in consequence of the general publicity that a remark- 
able trial was to be had, in which eminent counsel would take 
part, and one of the most prominent and wealthy citizens would 
appear as defendant. 

Judges Strong and McKennan were upon the bench, and 
among those present were conspicuous members of the bar, dis- 
tinguished merchants, and military gentlemen. 

Theodore Cuyler, for the prosecution, opened with an elabo- 
rate and able statement of the circumstances and the points he 
proposed to advocate. He then called his client. Philander 
Crosby, to the witness stand, who testified at great length. He 
described the manner of his employment by the owners to take 
the vessel to San Francisco, the manner of her charter by a local 
broker, the composition of her cargo and its several interests. 
He detailed with much warmth and bitterness the seizure of his 
vessel by a large body of armed men, who confined the officers 
to their cabin and placed the crew between decks in irons. He 
told the story of their transfer to Fort Mifflin, where they 
suffered greatly from the severity of the weather and insufficient 
protection. He desired redress for the serious injury to his 
health, his loss of time, and the destruction of his business. 

Mr. John E. Chase, one of the large owners, confirmed the 
statements of the captain, and testified that the protest made 
against the detention of the vessel was by his direction. That he 
demanded to know, without any satisfaction being rendered, why 



14 A True Romance of the Rebellion. 

his men had been placed in irons by the mihtary authorities. To 
that very proper demand and protest he had not yet been able to 
secure a satisfactory reply. The vessel w^as forcibly detained for 
a long time, entailing much loss in money, goods, and personal 
reputation to all concerned. General Cadwalader, in ansvv'er to 
queries of witness as to the cause of the detention, said only that 
he wanted to know that the purpose of her owners was legitimate, 
and that the munitions of w^ar constituting her cargo were not to 
be used against the Federal Government. The witness then 
offered to become responsible, and to furnish sufficient bonds for 
her legal disposition, but all his offers were arbitrarily rejected. 

Mr. J. T. Thackara, a resident of the city, corroborated the 
testimon}^ of Mr. Chase, and further deposed that General Cad- 
walader had declared himself to be personally and individually 
responsible for the seizure and detention of the vessel. 

For the defence, William Henry Rawle briefly stated that his 
client had acted under orders from the President of the United 
States, and held that, under such authority, the right of seizure 
should not be questioned, and that no damages could be recovered 
from the defendant. He then produced General Cadwalader, 
who stated, at considerable length, that the seizure was warranted 
and eminently proper under the circumstances, and that the pro- 
longed detention of the vessel was unavoidable for many reasons, 
the principal one being that there was no place to discharge and 
store so much powder in safety. The authority finally granted 
for the release of the powder did not cover the arms. Though it 
w^as conclusively shown that the cannon and shells belonged to 
the navy, their transportation was illegal until a permit had been 
obtained from the War Department. The owners and crew may 
have been innocently complicated by extraordinary adverse com- 
binations, but he considered the cargo to be an illegal one, and 
that the vessel was clearly subject to libel. 

Mr. Rawle then addressed the jury as follows : — 

The proof in this case is generally before us, but where it is not it is in con- 
sequence of the order of the War Department directing the military commandants 
of districts to box up all their correspondence and records, and transmit them to 
Washington. When you reflect on the vast correspondence had in any one day, 



In Court. 15 



and multiply it by 365, you will have some idea of the number of boxes sent from 
those head- quarters, and the difficulty of finding papers. The labor alone was 
simply enormous, and it w^as almost impossible to obtain enough to answer our 
purpose. When the writ in this suit was brought to me, General Cadwalader had 
not a paper in his possession for his defence, and the case has been worked out 
with a degree of labor and care of which you have no adequate conception. 

The first in order of date is the President's proclamation of 1861, forbidding 
the shipment of arms and munitions of war. 

Some time about the month of October, 1863, Mr. Benjamin Franklin, chief 
detective of this city, who M^as frequently employed by the General Government, 
received information that a certain person, known as Dr. Henry Seegur, had 
stored a quantity of carbines and pistols at the store of Charles Stokes & Co., 
Chestnut street, between Eighth and Ninth, to be taken away whenever required. 

On the 8th day of December the steamer Chesapeake had left New York for 
Portland; soon after she had cleared, she was captured by a party of rebels, who, 
in the guise of passengers, had come aboard of her. The engineer was murdered, 
and some of the officers and crew wounded. The real passengers were put on 
Partridge Island, and the vessel run away with. Three steamers were sent after 
her, and she was recaptured near Nova Scotia. This caused a great deal of excite- 
ment at Washington. 

Upon the very day the steamers left Boston in search of the Chesapeake, a 
woman on one of the New York trains was overheard to say, " This is nothing to 
what there'll be. There's another vessel now lying at Philadelphia bound for 
California that's a-going the same way." She showed a scrap of paper on which 
Avas written, "Bark y^i," Mr. Franklin was advised, and w^ent aboard of the 
vessel, where he found the woman, who admitted that she had just come from 
New York. 

Mr. F. H. Bowen, from whom two men named Whiting, father and son, had 
ordered 10,000 cannon-primers to be shipped out of the country, received infor- 
mation that they were for Dr. Seegur; this he communicated to Mr. Franklin, 
by whose direction 1 ,000 were sold and - traced to the Girard House. All of 
those transactions w^ere promptly telegraphed to the War Department by Mr. 
Franklin, who was then ordered to put himself in communication with General 
Cadwalader. The case of Dr. Seegur was naturally associated with the suspicious 
movements and cargo of the bark A\, and the vessel was seized by the military 
authorities, assisted by the revenue-cutter Varina, under orders from the Treasury 
Department, which came simultaneously, • — so that she was detained under strin- 
gent orders from two cabinet ministers. 

While the vessel was being toM^ed up the river a conversation was had between 
Captain Crosby and IMr. Franklin, Crosby asked why she was seized; and 
Franklin replied, because she was to have been captured by the rebels in the same 
way as the Chesapeake. Crosby then said he w^as satisfied that the vessel had 
been detained. Mr. Franklin then went to Washington, and on the day follow- 
ing Secretary Seward telegraphed a desire for General Cadwalader to come also. 



16 A True Romance of the Rebellion, 

Collector Thomas, on the 2 1st, wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury that the 
bark had been seized by the military authorities, and hence he had no report to 
make to his instructions. 

On the 22d General Cadwalader went to Washington and saw Mr. Seward, and 
also found Mr. Franklin there. The Secretary feared a. violation of the neu- 
trality laws by the shipment of these arms, and he himself directed General 
Cadwalader to detain the vessel, under a belief that Dr. Seegur was in some way 
mixed up with the shipment. 

If there had not been such a pressure on all the departments it would have 
been seen that all was right, for the powder had been authorized to be shipped by 
the Secretary of the Treasury ; but the authorities at Philadelphia were only able 
to perceive the results, and if they had been possessed of all the information now 
before us the seizure need not have been made. 

General Cadwalader then went over to the War Department and saw Secretary 
Stanton, who approved his course, and gave positive instructions to unload the 
cargo for examination. 

We will now return to Dr. Seegur, whom I have spoken of, and who has been 
so frequently mentioned in the telegrams from the War Department. About 
December 15, Mr. Franklin, M^ho had Seegur under close surveillance, found 
that a portion of the arms which were stored under Stokes' store had been packed 
in forty-three barrels of lard, and sent to New York, and, as you may imagine, 
Mr. Franklin's suspicions were not much soothed. He intercepted two telegrams 
from Conant to Seegur, saying that the lard had been shipped and the nails were 
in store. Dr. Seegur seldom left the Girard House, and his only visitor was a 
Cuban named Perez, who came there under the pretence of giving Spanish lessons 
to the doctor's children. These visits excited remarks, and on one occasion Perez 
went there with a carbine under his cloak. 

On the 17th the newspapers mentioned the defeat of Barrios, President of San 
Salvador, and on the same day Dr. Seegur said he w^ould leave on the New York 
steamer of the 23d of December, and he purchased at Drexel's a draft fox ^250, 
to the order of G. F. Canty, which he took to the post-office and mailed, and 
which was intercepted by Mr. Franklin. 

Dr. Seegur went to New York with the cannon-primers in his possession, and 
stopped at the Spingler House. On the 22d, the day before he was to sail, an 
order came from the United States Marshal, that all baggage must be examined. 
Seegur became very nervous and protested against any such examination as an 
accredited Minister of another country; but his fears were allayed, while his move- 
ments were attentively watched. He was in constant intercourse with Perez, Canty, 
and Conant. On the 23-d the four men were arrested as they were about to sail 
in the steamer Cromwell for New Orleans, and bills of lading were found for lard 
and nails. The 5,ocx) pistols packed in lard, and a quantity of powder packed in 
barrels of potatoes, were shipped on board of the bark Circassian, which was 
also seized. 

Immediately after the arrest of Seegur, and his imprisonment in Fort Lafay- 



In Court. 17 



ette, Mr. Franklin telegraphed the fact to General Cadwalader, and on Christmas 
day Secretary Stanton telegraphed to FrankHn his gratification. 

December 26, Henry Virden, pilot of the bark, wrote to Major Haldeman to 
know by what authority he had been detained, and was answered that it was by 
order of the Secretary of War. 

General Cadwalader, feeling the urgency of the situation, deemed it caution 
and prudence to forward all the papers in the case. He therefore, on the 28th, 
despatched Lieutenant Horace L. Haldeman to the Secretary of War with papers 
and statements as to the bark, and also an account of the rapid formation of float- 
mg ice around the vessel. It was necessary to have her sheathed for protection. 
This was verbally ordered by the Secretary, and the bill, amounting to several 
hundred dollars, was paid by the Government. 

In consequence of recommendations by the General, he received a telegram 
from General Canby, January 2, directing the release of the vessel and crew; 
which was immediately carried into effect. 

The next communication received was from General Canby to General Cadwal- 
ader, which shoM^s that the attention of the Secretary of the Navy had at last 
been called to the bark, and the question of convoy decided; but he did not 
know that the powder was on board. On the 6th Collector Thomas wrote to the 
Secretary of the Treasury for instructions, as the bark had been released by the mill- 
tary authorities. The Secretary replied that the vessel might proceed on her voyage. 
Then comes the letter from Mr. Seward to Franklin, of the 13th, desiring a 
report of his action in the matter of the arrest of Dr. Seegur; which was com- 
plied with. 

After all this delay, and being at last released, one might have supposed that 
this ill-fated vessel would have been permitted to depart without further molesta- 
tion; but no, on the 20th she was libelled by the United States in this court. She 
had therefore got rid of the military arm of the Government only to fall within the 
grasp of the civil. Depositions were filed on both sides, and on the third day of 
February she was finally released. 

There are two other letters, and the last. I shall refer to. One is of the 12th 
March, from Secretary Seward to Mr. Franklin, telling him that Dr. Seegur is to 
be released, but that the property seized is to be held by the Government ; and 
the other is one of 25th March, from General Canby to Cadwalader, ordering 500 
carbines in Franklin's possession seized as the property of Dr. Seegur to be 
delivered to Walbridge & Co., New York. What became of Dr. Seegur and the 
carbines I know not. The bark, I believe, was afterward lost, together with all on 
boards 

Charge of Judge Strong : — 

This is an action by Philander Crosby against General George Cadwalader to 
recover damages for the seizure of his person and his vessel. The bark was 

1 All the correspondence was offered in evidence, but is not reproduced here. 



18 A True Romance of the Rebellion. 

seized as she was proceeding out to sea, and the plaintiff was taken to Fort MifRin 
and confined there for fifteen days. The plaintiff stated, as you have heard, that 
he suffered very considerable injuries in consequence of his imprisonment, and 
that he has been permanently injured up to the present day. He has also com- 
plained, and given evidence in support of it, that a large portion of his cargo had 
been abstracted; none of which statements have been contradicted by the 
evidence. 

The case of the plaintiff is such a one as, under ordinary circumstances, would 
entitle him to damages. But the action is brought against an officer of the United 
States, and the defence is, that the officer, in doing what he did — in arresting the 
plaintiff — was acting under superior authority, — the authority of the President 
of the United States, or of his Secretaries, and in law the Secretaries of the 
different departments at Washington are his agents, and an order from one of 
those departments is the order of the President. 

■ Now, the defendant asserts that what he did was done under the authority of 
the President, and he claims that he is protected in so doing by his authority. 

In 1863, on the third day of March, an Act of Congress was passed, as fol- 
lows : " That any order of the President, or under his authority, made at any 
time during the existence of the present rebellion, shall be a defence in all courts 
to any action or prosecution, civil or criminal, pending or to be commenced, for 
any such seizure, arrest, or imprisonment, made, done, or committed, or acts 
omitted to be done under and by virtue of such order, or under color of any act 
of Congress, and such defence may be made by special plea, or under the gen- 
eral issue." And so long as the defendant acted under the authority of the 
President, no action can be maintained against him, and if a person has been 
subjected to arrest or imprisonment, by any one acting under such authority, his 
remedy is not in a court of law, but in the Court of Claims. 

The only question presented in this case is, did General Cadwalader, in detaining 
this vessel, act under the authority of the President ? — I have not thought it neces- 
sary to go over the whole evidence — for, if he did act under such authority, this 
action cannot be maintained, the remedy of the plaintiff being, as I have said, at 
Washington. 

A telegram dated December 11, 1863, before the seizure was made, from the 
Secretary of War, directs General Cadwalader to arrest the parties, if it appears 
that the circumstances are as set forth. In this telegram there is positive direction 
to the defendant to arrest the parties and detain the vessel, provided the facts are 
as set forth. 

Subsequently there was another telegram from the War Department, after the 
vessel had been seized and the plaintiff imprisoned. This telegram recognized 
the seizure, and is as follows : " The Secretary of War directs that the officers and 
crew of the bark ^i, now in the custody of the military authorities at Fort Mifflin, 
be discharged from that custody, and that the vessel be returned to the posses- 
sion of her owners and allowed to proceed on her voyage." You will observe 
that this telegram recognizes the fact that the crew were in the custody of the 



Applicatioit of the Lesson. 19 

military authorities. It also recognizes the fact that they had been arrested by 
order of the War Department, and still remained in their custody. 

In view of this evidence, which is written, the only question is a question of 
fact for you to decide. Was General Cadwalader authorized to arrest those 
parties? If you so find, your verdict will be for the defendant; if otherwise, for 
the plaintiff. 

The jury agreed upon a verdict for the defendant, without 
laaving their seats. 

IV. APPLICATION OF THE LESSON. 

I have been impelled to rummage the recesses of my memory 
and the records of the court, for the salient incidents connected 
with the almost forgotten perplexity surrounding the bark ^i, 
to exemplify the difficulties and uncertainties attending any effort 
to procure official information or documentary evidence from the 
books and papers at Washington. I think a simple condensation 
of facts is enough to convince any reasonable person that the 
departmental records of our Government, to express it mildly, are, 
to a great degree, unworthy of confidence. With a due regard 
for the extraordinary exigencies, bustle, confusion, and multiplicity 
of events during the period of active hostilities, and the sheer 
inability of the overworked officials to care for and dispose of 
current correspondence as it poured in upon them, I am not 
prepared to accept any excuse for the negligence and gross 
inefficiency of those in charge for not causing the documentary 
histories of the service to be put into becoming shape for official 
reference long before the year 1870. 

Having shown, from personal knowledge, the condition of 
afTairs in the highest branch of the department, that of the 
Secretar}^ of War, it is safe to allege that a similar state of things 
may be found in the other divisions, only to a more extensive and 
aggravated degree, in consequence of the greater volume of 
business transacted, a less number of assistants in proportion, and 
the very much less importance of the subject-matter. If a con- 
spicuous Major-General, wdio held close, confidential relations with 
the Secretary of War, and had been assigned, for peculiar reasons, 
to the command of an important territory at a critical time, found 



20 A True Roinance of the Rebellion. 

it impossible to trace the record of a memorable transaction, which 
at the time involved the concurrent action of the Secretary of 
War, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and of 
the President himself, by the prescribed methods and customs of 
the service, within seven years of its occurrence, v^hat hope has 
a private soldier or his widow to obtain a transcript from the 
muster-rolls of his regiment, five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years 
after the war? 

Y, FOR TWENTY YEARS. 

It is not ray purpose to dwell upon the stirring events of 1861, 
'63, '63, and '64, nor yet to endeavor to harrow the sympathies of 
the present generation. Men not yet gray will readily remember 
when nothing on earth was good enough for the brave " boys in 
blue." The noble fellows turned their backs upon the old farm, 
the shop, the factory, their wives, their sweethearts, — upon all they 
held dear and sacred, and, amidst the prayers and the plaudits of 
their friends and neighbors, upwards of 2,000,000 of them went 
forth to the great fight. 

Of this mighty host of patriots more than 300,000 perished. 
With the termination of the War of the Rebellion, 1,500,000 
veterans returned to their native towns, only to find their places 
in the industrial pursuits filled with a new generation. They 
cheerfully and hopefully went from farm to farm, from shop to 
shop, and from factory to factory, seeking employment like so 
many aliens. The more fortunate and persistent gradually found 
work, and were sooner or later absorbed into the great body 
jDolitic, to begin life anew. Others did not fare so well. These 
wandered hopelessly and aimlessly about from place to place, 
picking up chance jobs, and struggled with bad luck, poverty, 
and disease for months and for years, until, finally, they lost their 
courage, their faith in mankind, their self-respect, and appealed 
for assistance to those who had promised them so much but a 
few years before. Those who carried bullets in their bodies, 
were maimed, or had sufiicient disability to warrant an applica- 
tion for pension, naturally and properly turned their early atten- 
tion to the General Government for the relief provided by law. 



For Twenty Hears. 21 



To satisfy public opinion, pension and equalization of bounty 
laws were promptly passed by Congress ; but, unfortunately, they 
were all conceived in selfishness, hypocrisy, venality, and ex- 
travagance, and largely in the interest of claim-agents, middle- 
men, and the corrupt rings who have so successfully plundered 
the Federal treasury. At every session since the war special 
bills have been freely passed appropriating liberal sums for the 
benefit of notable officers, or the widows of those who achieved 
exalted position at the expense of the more deserving rank and 
file ; but for the common soldier, his humble widow, his aban- 
doned orphans, or for any of those thousands who have no 
political or social influence, and do not possess the wherewithal 
to suborn mercenary officials, there is no paternal government. 
The friendless petitioner can obtain the benefits authorized only 
through a strict compliance with the letter of the law, and with 
impracticable and cruelly unjust requirements, established by the 
autocracy of the pension bureau. The poverty-stricken veteran 
has been required to prove, absolutely, by his own witnesses, 
that he was an able-bodied man, in perfect health, at the time of 
his enlistment, and that he contracted disability while in the per- 
formance of his military duty. The certificate of the army sur- 
geon, who was the agent of the Government, his muster-roll, and 
other evidences of his acceptance, are all in the possession of 
our " grateful republic," but they are not produced to serve the 
interest of the applicant. It is an iron-clad rule not to furnish 
information or testimony against the department. Instead of 
honestly settling a disputed pension claim according to the 
department records, properly guarded by evidences of identity 
and continuous disability, the victim of misplaced confidence m 
the integrity of his country is directed to seek for two or more of 
his old comrades who will swear to certain superfluous require- 
ments. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the only com- 
panions who could testify to the facts are not to be found at so 
late a day. They have wandered no one knows whither, and 
most probably have long since been placed under the sod. 
The widow of the picket whose body was found with a bullet 
in his brain can discover no one who will make an affidavit 



22 



A True Romance of the Rebellioji. 



that he saw the man shot, nor obtain any knowledge of the scout 
who never returned to camp, and was reported "• missing." She 
has been compelled to scrub, wash, and do menial Avork, year 
after year, to provide for the helpless offspring of the brave man 
who, in the prime of life, shouldered his musket and marched to 
the defence of his flag ; but who never returned to those he loved 
so well. For such no pensions have been provided. 




Thousands of urgent communications addressed to the Hon. 
Commissioner of Pensions have not been acknowledged short of 
two or three years, and when the cold-blooded, printed form, with 
the address written in has been received, it is usually of no value. 
It is by no means uncommon for from fifteen to twenty years to 
elapse before a veteran with a good claim can get his pension, in 
case he lives so long, or until he is definitely informed that it will 
not be allowed.^ During these weary years of uncertainty and 

1 An Associated Press Despatch dated Washington, D.C., January 9, 1886, stated that a 
pension had just been granted to an old soldier by the name of Hendricks, in the Home at 
Dayton, Ohio, He has been totally blind since 1864, and his friends have been trying for 
the last sixteen years to get his claim through the Pension Bureau. 



For Twenty Tears. 23 



anxious longing, the poor fellow has frequently been fed, clothed, 
and nursed by faithful comrades who are but little better off in 
worldly goods than himself; or he has drifted into a county poor- 
house to die a pauper. 

It is unworthy of a great government that a necessity should 
exist for the various veteran organizations and their personal 
friends to be constantly laboring to raise money or supplies with 
which to aid worthy soldiers and their families not otherwise pro- 
vided for, although, at the same time, it is a glowing tribute to the 
inherent generosity of our people at large, that, by the hearty 
cooperation of States, cities, towns, and individuals, millions of 
dollars are annually contributed to this commendable end, every 
dollar of which should come from the plethoric purse of the 
nation. 

In round numbers there are to-day about three hundred thou- 
sand applications for relief pending before the pension bureau, 
which apparently cannot be adjudicated and disposed of under 
existing regulations, because of insufficient information. This It 
is impossible for the petitioners to furnish, although it ought to be 
given in almost every instance by the muster-rolls and hospital 
returns in possession of the Government. 

The late commissioner has officially stated that, in his opinion, 
a large proportion of these unsettled claims, which have been 
accumulating for twenty years, were deserving. 

The conclusion arrived at, after much experience and personal 
investigation, under very favorable circumstances, leads to the 
unwilling conviction, that most of the war records are lamentably 
incomplete and unreliable, if not useless. 

The only equitable, practicable, and immediate measure of 
relief to hundreds of thousands of needy veterans, whose disabili- 
ties are steadily Increasing with advancing years, appears at the 
present time to be an early passage by Congress of a service-pen- 
sion act, providing for the monthly payment of a small sum of 
money, in postal orders, to every man who can produce sufficient 
evidence of honorable military or naval service, and who is not 
already upon the pension-roll for a greater amount, no matter how 
offensive such an act would be to the prosperous and strong, to 
the selfish, to the ostentatious, or to the sentimental ex-soldiers. 



ADDENDA. 



The following table, taken from the last report of the Com- 
missioner of Pensions, will show^tlie amount of money paid by the 
Government for Pensions and for Interest on the public debt : — 



Year 


Pensions. 


Interest. 


Year 


Pensions. 


Interest. 


1862 


^52,1 70 47 


^13,190,344 84 


1875 


^29,456,216 22 


^103,093,544 57 


1863 


1,078,513 36 


24,729,700 62 


1876 


28,257,395 69 


100,243,271 23 


1864 


41985,473 90 


53,685,421 69 


1877 


27,963,752 27 


97,124,511 58 


i86s 


16,347,621 34 


77,395,090 30 


1878 


27,137,019 08 


102,500,874 65 


1866 


15,605,549 88 


133,067,624 91 


1879 


35,121,482 39 


105,327,949 00 


1867 


20,936,551 7] 


143,781,591 91 


1880 


56,777,174 44 


95,757,575 " 


1868 


23,782,386 78 


140,424,045 71 


1881 


50,059,279 62 


82,508,741 18 


1869 


28,476,621 78 


130,694,242 80 


1882 


61,345,193 95 


71,077,206 79 


1870 


28,340,202 17 


129,235,498 00 


1883 


66,012,573 64 


51,436,709 50 


1871 


34,443,894 &S 


125,576,565 93 


1884 


55,429,228 06 


47,926,432 50 


1872 


28,553,402 76 


117,357,839 72 


1885 


65,733,094 27 


47,014,133 00 


i«73 


29,359,426 86 


104,750,688 44 












1874 


29,038,414 66 


107,119,815 21 


Total 


765,092,640 18 


2,205,019,419 19 



In addition to the interest, $889,054,445 has been paid upon 
the principal, so that the account stands thus :-^ 

Total amount paid to bondholders . . . $3,094,073,864 19 
Total amount paid to pensioners . . . 765,092,640 18 

Excess paid bondholders and pensioners . $3,328,981,22401 

Capitalists and national banks purchased their bonds at a dis- 
count, while the soldiers were paid in money worth from forty to 
eighty cents on the dollar. 



The average price of gold 

1862 . 

1863 . 

1864 . 

1865 . 

1866 . 



n greenbacks was in 



$1 ^7% 

2 18 
I 81 
I 46 



an average in these five years of $1.62, or a dead loss, at $13 per 
month wages to the i ,800,000 enlisted men, of nearly $250,000,000. 

I'ress of Rockwell and Churchill, jg Arch St., Boston. 



t 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




013 701 788 A 



